New Hampshire is considering a bill to offer domestic violence protection to
pets as research shows a link between animal and partner abuse

New Hampshire is the latest of a growing number of US states to draft legislation that would give victims of domestic violence the right to ask a judge to award them custody of their pet.

The Bill, which was before the state's lower house on Wednesday, would extend the protection already offered to human victims of domestic violence to household animals.

According to the National Link Coalition, which has carried out extensive research on the mistreatment of animals, pet abuse should not be considered as an isolated incident but as a warning that other members of the household are in danger.

It also says that domestic abusers threaten to hurt pets to prevent their partners taking flight.

“One of the things we have consistently seen is that victims of domestic abuse are afraid to leave their homes because they are worried about what will happen to their pet,” said Amanda Grady Sexton, director of public policy at the New Hampshire Coalition against Domestic and Sexual Violence.

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“There is a link between people who kill or maim their pet and subsequently harm their partners.”

David Goldstein, the police chief in Franklin, in New Hampshire’s lakes region, said research had shown that a large number of victims have not sought help because they feared what could happen to their pet.

“It is not uncommon for perpetrators of domestic violence and sexual abuse to use their animals as some sort of bargaining chip.

“So we are asking judges to be given powers to issue temporary or permanent orders to prevent these people having contact with their animals.”

The campaign for protection for animals has united animal welfare and domestic violence groups in calling for a change in the law.

Around half the states in the USA have enacted some sort of provision to include pets in protection orders.

Chris Green of the Animal League Defence Fund, which is based in Washington DC, said that animal abusers are around five times more likely to harm their partners.

However in New Hampshire the Bill is being opposed by some Republicans including Mark Warden, a member of the state’s legislature.

‘‘The flawed language in this bill would allow a party in a domestic violence dispute to use the power of the courts to forbid another party from visiting a beloved pet — further escalating hostilities between parties.”